Skyfall (2012)

Director: Sam Mendes
Story: Robert Wade, John Logan, Neal Purvis (based on the character created by Ian Fleming)
Cast: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fieness
Music: Thomas Newman
Time: 143 minutes
Bottom-line: Bit goofy, but exhilarating! 

Skyfall marks the fiftieth anniversary of the classic, unforgettable MI6 agent, James Bond. The twenty-third installment in the James Bond franchise stars Daniel Craig as 007 and Judi Dench as M. The film begins in Istanbul, where Bond and Eve (Naomi Harris) chase a mercenary. As Bond and the mercenary fight on top of a train, M orders Eve to take a direct shot, which ends up hitting Bond, who falls into a river, and is presumed dead. Following the event, M faces pressure from Gareth Mallory (Fieness), the Intelligence and Security Committee, to retire. After a terrorist attack, the MI6 is forced to relocate its emergency offices underground. Bond eventually returns after hearing about the attack, and though he fails all the required tests, M approves his return to the field. After a series of events Bond meets Silva (Bardem), the film’s villain. The rest of the film focuses on the Bond-Silva encounters, with particular importance on M’s character.

Craig as Bond. James Bond

The film begins with an exciting encounter, as always; but then it slows down a bit. The process of Bond getting back to the field is shown in detail. But nevertheless, the action sequences were interesting, especially the drama at the Macau casino. One thing odd about Skyfall is that the villain makes an entry only after 70 minutes into the film (“He’s the villain we’ve all been waiting for... for seventy minutes, that is!”). Silva is that one villain more bent on destroying M rather than Bond, which is why the film’s climax is unique.

Bardem as Silva

Daniel Craig impresses again, playing the role I feel he was born to play (as I wrote earlier in Casino Royale, Craig has always been my mental picture of Bond). Judi Dench does an amazing job as M, and among her recent films, it is one of her best performances. The new characters are Gareth Mallory, played well by Fieness, the bond girl – surprisingly with a very short screen time – Bérénice Lim Marlohe as Séverine, and finally, the villain – Silva. I felt that Bardem could have done a much better job at playing a more horrific villain – his role as Anton Chigurh in No Country in Old Men still haunts me. Craig and the others manage to throw in a few bits of dry humour as well (like during Bond’s word-association test!)

Dench as M

The film’s cinematography is superb, as is the background score. Perhaps the main highlight of the technical aspects is Adele’s Skyfall theme that plays as the opening credits roll, immediately after Bond is shot. The song later won the Oscar for Best Original Song, and boy, was it good! The stunts were exciting to watch, but again, as in most films, the more exciting it is, the more ridiculous it is (I mean which driver continues to drive a train after half of it has been “sawed” off??) The climax was goofy; it looked more of a Home Alone type showdown!

Marlohe as Severine

Thanks to its terrific acting performances, camera work and stylish presentation, Skyfall marks the fiftieth anniversary in such finesse and elegance. To me, Casino Royale was a better Bond film, but this one definitely is worth a watch!

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%